Oppo addresses R7 rumors with official renders, specs

Oppo R7 has really been a constant presence in the rumor mill, especially the last few days. A lot of users are excited about the prospect of an edge-to-edge, curved screen, but some new official information might leave a lot of them disappointed.

It appears Oppo has decided to stop the rumor madness around the upcoming R7 and has sent us some official information about the device, which debunks most of the previous rumors and speculations. Judging from a set of official renders of the device, we can safely say, that the display is not what we expected. It is also worth noting that the images are concept renders and as such, might not be entirely accurate. Apparently, the R7 won't come with a curved, edge-to-edge display, like a recent Oppo patent and a lot of alleged videos and photos have been suggesting. Don't get disappointed though - the bezelless phone might still be in the making, just under a different name.

Either way, the Oppo R7 will have a rather traditional-looking display, complete with some bezels. The overlaying glass does feature a 2.5D effect, but no actual edge can be seen. Actually, we did have at least one leak that was close to the actual thing. The Oppo R7, might not be the curved screen phone most were waiting for, but it does still have its merits.

The device does look quite thin, perhaps even another record-holder and beautifully crafted with a metal frame and what appears to be a glass back. It is also worth noting that the camera is not protruding, which is not the case with most similarly slim handsets. This, however might suggest that the camera isn't quite as capable as the ones on the Galaxy S6 or the One M9, but, we can’t really know for sure, before Oppo gives us some more insight.

The promotional materials also make another thing clear - the upcoming R7 will feature the company's own VOOC fast-changing technology. This was more than expected, seeing how Oppo has really left the competition in the dust in this department, as confirmed by our Fast charging in-depth review.

As far as specs on the R7 go, we still have only rumors to go by, which, given the current situation, we are a lot more inclined to question as well.

In the past it has been said that the R7 should sport a MediaTek MT6795 SoC with octa-core CPU, as well as a 20.7 MP rear camera. 4G LTE support should be on board as well.

Oppo launches the low-end Joy Plus in India for $111

Oppo has launched a new budget Android smartphone in India. The Oppo Joy Plus will retail for Rs. 6,990 ($111) and is Oppo's cheapest phone on the market.

The Joy Plus has a 4.0-inch, 800x480 display, MediaTek MT6572 SoC with dual-Core 1.3GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, 3 megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera, 1700mAh battery, and Android 4.4 KitKat.

While this may have been fine a couple of years ago, Oppo seems woefully out of touch with the current market situation in India, where you can get the Xiaomi Redmi 2 for the same price as the Joy Plus and is in a different league altogether. If Oppo wants to get a bigger foothold in the market, it will need to be more aggressive with price and specifications in a value conscious market like India.

MediaTek unveils 64-bit MT8163 and MT8735 chips for tablets

At the Hong Kong Electronics fair, MediaTek just announced two new 64-bit quad-core MediaTek chipsets - MT8163 and MT8735 - both designed for the tablets.

The new MediaTek MT8163 chip comprises of 64-bit Cortex-A53 CPU, powerful enough to drive a 1080p display. This chip supports Android 5.1 Lollipop by default and also ropes along dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooh 4.0, FM radio, and GPS.

Even the MT8735 offers 64-bit support with Cortex-A53 architecture and promises competitive performance. Packing support for 6-mode 4G LTE network, this SoC can also supports dual-band Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio, and GPS/GLONASS/Beidou.

Tablets based on either of the chipset to start hitting the China and other Asian markets in the coming months. These tablets will mostly belong in the entry-level to mid-range segment.

Source | Via

MediaTek Helio is a new family of high-end mobile chipsets

The Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek launched a brand new family of high-end mobile chipsets dubbed Helio. The new product lineup will take on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series and Samsung’s Exynos in the top end of the market.

The MediaTek Helio X10 series will debut first. The 64-bit chipset will pack and octa-core setup with 2.2GHz Cortex-A53 cores. The newcomer offers support for 120Hz display refresh rates, as well as slow-motion video capture at 480fps.

A Helio P-series will debut later this year. There is no word on what specs the product range will offer.

The first smartphones with MediaTek Helio internals will debut in Q2. The latter officially kicks off in April, so we won’t have to wait long to find out what MediaTek has been up to.

Source | Via

MediaTek working on a Cortex-A72 based chipset for Q4

MediaTek was among the first to announce a Cortex-A72 based chipset - shortly before the MWC. Now more details have emerged from Taiwanese publication Digitimes has uncovered some more details. The new part should arrive in Q4, meaning we may see devices at CES/MWC 2016.

The MediaTek MT679X chipset will pair the fast Cortex-A72 processor cores with A53 ones in a big.LITTLE setup for improved power efficiency.

The new chipset will leave the current 28nm process for a more efficient one though if it's not clear if the company will go for 20nm or the latest 16nm FinFET. At 16nm, the A72 core will be 3.5x faster than a 28nm A15 and 1.9x faster than a 20nm A57. That's assuming the same power use.

That's for the CPU side, for graphics there's continued talk that MediaTek is dropping ARM's Mali andpartnering with AMD for new mobile graphics. Unlike its arch rival Nvidia, AMD is no longer in the phone/tablet GPU game – it sold its department to Qualcomm, which renamed its products Adreno. There's not a lot of details for now though.

Source (in Taiwanese) | Via